Never Not
Ch. 68: Difficult to Forgive

Shohei returned to his room after coming from the investigation room of the one. The man behind Yamazaki took off his glasses while recalling the leather gloves he had found in the room. He is also reminded of the content of Mr. Yoshuke's message with the anonymous man. What the message says is that no matter what happens, Mr. Matsumoto will definitely protect them.

Shohei hurriedly disperse his reverie, then took out the blacklist of officials he grasped. Out of the ten names, there were only two left untouched by Black Shadow. His eyebrows almost fused staring at the last name that was still filled with question marks.

Somehow, the more at the end of the mission, he even felt worried mixed with anxiety. Worried if this mission might make him have to go against his future father-in-law—tuan Matsumoto. Was-was if the perpetrator stabbing himself turned out to be the police people themselves who might be in his shade. He who is forcefully exposed to every truth, is now afraid to know the truth itself.

On the other hand, Ai Otaka had just arrived at the office. Whistling while walking leisurely, he passed Seto Tanaka who just came out of the room.

"Otsukaresama desu¹" Ai greeted Seto as she passed.

"Ai-kun!" call Seto suddenly.

Ai turned around slowly. The two policemen who were walking from opposite directions were now facing each other.

"The chairman was looking for you" said Seto with a flat face.

"Eh? What's up?" the question is a little surprised.

"Maybe you're the only one not in the room."

"Oh. I thought there was something important."

Looking at Ai who was about to twist her body, Seto immediately said, "Ai-kun, why did you come to the Metropolitan police?"

Ai's steps stopped instantly. "Why ask if you've saved the answer!"

"In addition, I want to know why you're here!"

Ai scratched the small of her head. "Why, huh? Maybe because I miss you. I miss the times when we compete to be the best students" he said.

"really?"

"You're my only friend from since I was in the dorm until I moved here" Ai replied in a weakened tone of voice.

Seto paused for a moment, then said, "Ai-kun, it seems like the Chief is suspicious of you. He asked me to monitor your movements."

"I told you, you are my best friend! Even for things I shouldn't know, you tell me," Ai exclaimed in a wide smile. "But ... Why is the Chairman suspicious of me? I felt like I wasn't doing anything weird" he continued with his lips curled downwards.

"I don't know either. Maybe some of your friends complain about you."

"Yes .. I know those people don't like my presence."

"They're just cynical about you for being able to easily fit into our division. Our revision is a special division in metropolitan. To enter, you must at least score achievements by uncovering major cases. And this revision is also often used as a stepping stone for the police to pursue office."

"Jeez .. so they're trifling me!" Ai laughed while raising her head. "Let's see, I'll prove that I deserve to be in the division of one Metropolitan investigator!"

"As a friend I just want to remind you to keep your attitude and not to appear flashy" said Seto. Yes, he often heard his friends clearly express their dislike for Ai Otaka. Moreover, his best friend was often acting arbitrarily and did not want to work with the team.

When Seto was about to leave, now it was Ai's turn to hold him back with a quick voice.

"Seto-kun, have you ever used your weapon since becoming a detective?"

"Why are you asking that?"

"I've been in the middle of seeing a crime, but I doubt I'll use a gun to stop the perpetrator and choose to find out the motive first. I was consumed with the words of our instructor who said a detective rarely uses his gun, he works with his brain not with his weapon" explained Ai with a face full of regret.

"Did you catch the culprit after that and find out the motive?"

"Not both."

"Don't hesitate to shoot if for the safety of the victim. Even the Chairman did it when he was about to stop a heroic thief."

"You look very close to Chairman Yamazaki-san, huh?"

"She's my role model," replied Seto who immediately left.

Ai's eyes followed Seto who was gradually leaving.

"The oceans? Don't be so flashy?" Ai repeated what Seto said while laughing cynically.

"Seina-chan, the man you were with at that time was handsome," chirped his friend who was then a theater actor.

Rai's face spontaneously flashed across the beautiful-eyed girl's mind.

"Your eyes are always bright when you see a handsome man" Seina said, chuckling.

"He's your girlfriend's friend, right? Would you like to introduce me to him?" His friend suddenly begged him.

"Eh? I'm not very familiar with him. That was the first time we met." Seina recalled the moment Rai reached out her index finger in lieu of a handshake.

"But you can ask your girlfriend for help, right?" seduce Seina's friend Haruka.

Seina frowned because she did not know what Haruka meant.

Her friend immediately embraced her as she said, "You can spark her double date idea. You took me, and your boyfriend took his friend. Isn't this fun?"

Seina seemed to think. Is this a good idea?

"Come on! Honestly, he charmed me with just one look. I was wondering how could your boyfriend let you walk around with such a handsome guy? Ah, it must be that she strongly believes in how you feel about her, Seina!"

Haruka's words then made Seina stunned. "I'll tell him later. Hopefully he and his friend are interested in the idea of a double date. But, I hope you are not surprised to know so close to the man," said Seina who just remembered if her boyfriend's friend was a speechless.

On the other hand, the sound of the two sticks squabbling rang out loud in the doujo² room. Sweat slid across the foreheads of the two adult men. Shohei continued to attack, while Rai could only fend off. Despite having a gap to counter-attack, he did not do it because he was not focused.

"Why is your strength and speed even decreasing?" shohei complains while continuing to raise his staff with unpredictable movements. As a profiler, he can certainly catch the strange thing on Rai this afternoon.

Yeah, correct. Throughout the training the man was busy diving into his mind. Guilt still hurts him. Rai kept thinking about what he had done to the future fiancee of Shohei.

Still crossing each other's sticks, Rai said, "I just suddenly remembered something."

"What's that?"

"My sister told me about her friend who accidentally played with her best friend's boyfriend. They always kiss when they meet. But actually my sister's friend really did not know that the girl was the lover of her own best friend. He just meant to play around with the girl, without using the heart," said Rai who was actually telling about himself.

"Know or don't know, isn't that still an affair? It will not change the fact that they have betrayed. Even more fatal, didn't the girl realize she had a lover? Why keep playing with fire with other men? Then, why would that guy easily play a girl if he didn't have feelings for her?" shohei sideline relaxed while attacking from the side.

Rai remained silent. He flinched and immediately dodged as Shohei jumped while brandishing his staff.

"Yes, that's right! I also told Ryo that. But, Ryo-chan still seems to be defending her friend. If you were in the position of the girl's boyfriend, would you forgive their mistakes?"

"Cheating is not an error but a deliberate attitude that is cruel and bear to do. So, for me it was hard to forgive and be accepted back," Shohei replied firmly while pointing the tip of the stick at Rai's neck.

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author notes 🦶🦶🦶

Otsukaresama desu: a common expression of fellow employees.means thank you for your hard work.

doujo room often used martial arts training.

I write this while on the way out of town.if there is a tipo, ambiguous sentence, or repetitive words please comment in the paragraph.

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